January 13, 2005
Private: Court Says Evolution Stickers in Textbooks Are Unconstitutional
Judge Clarence Cooper, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, declared that evolution stickers placed in textbooks by a public school board are unconstitutional. Cooper held that the stickers violate the 1st Amendment's establishment clause. The stickers proclaim, "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered." In his decision Cooper explained, "the distinction of evolution as a theory rather than a fact is the distinction that religiously motivated individuals have specifically asked school boards to make in the most recent anti-evolution movement, and that was exactly what parents in Cobb County did in this case." He added, "The school board has effectively improperly entangled itself with religion by appearing to take a position. Therefore, the sticker must be removed from all of the textbooks into which it has been placed."
The opinion can be found here.